[crashryan]

Thanks to Buck Ryan I've learned another little bit of British culture. I never heard of netball before. I looked it up and discovered it's a going concern in quite a number of capitalist slave-states, still providing pleasure for the eyes of jaded revolutionaries.

Link to the book: Buck Ryan 77 - This Man is Ours

[The Australian Panther]

CrashRyan, I get the sarcasm and sympathize. You were obviously reacting to something you have seen, heard or read just prior to posting. You have a way with words. A good lie down might help. 
In my part of the world to say you have never heard of netball is like saying you have never heard of the beautiful game. I'm incredulous!  Actually, Netball was invented in the US in 1891! Originally as a variation of basketball specifically for women. [Perhaps because of clothing restrictions back in the day?  ]  It has always been much more popular in British origin countries than in the US.
Note from this 'about' that the first netball association was formed in Britain in 1926.
https://teachpe.com/sports-coaching/netball/netball-rules-history/netball-history
Note also the comment, '  The early 20th Century saw further spreading of netball's popularity, particularly to Australasian countries.' If you were an Australian or New Zealand male and had/have a sporty girlfriend, wife or significant other, she will have played netball.
Netball features on prime-time TV and when Australia is playing NZ or Great Britain, the results feature on prime-time news.And winning captains are national sporting heroes.
Here is a game for you to watch. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0nmyVTwc2E
Cheers!   
     

[crashryan]

I certainly meant no offense (or even offence), Panther! As a jaded revolutionary myself, I just wondered about the therapeutic effects of "the limbs of a young girl" playing netball. Blame Don Freeman...he makes it sound as if the games were frequented by lecherous old men like myself.

Thanks for the links. I found it fascinating how netball grew out of basketball and how the rules of the two games evolved. To American eyes netball looks a lot like basketball without the dribbling. It strikes me as odd, though, that a player is permitted to stand and make a shot with minimum interference. Fouling the shooter and pretending you didn't is a big part of the American game. I wonder if the stationary shot arose from the fact that there's no backboard off which to bounce the ball, making moving goals more difficult. It's also interesting that play seems more like the work of a team of equals. To me American pro basketball looks a lot like a group of players supporting one or two stars.

They turned out quite a crowd for that World Cup match! The bleachers full of Australia fans with fuzzy hairpieces is funny...they look like a colony of Furbies. One thing, though: those dissolving blue CGI figures in the opening are downright creepy.

Again, thanks for the introductory material.

[paw broon]

Jaded revolutionary?  Well, well.  As a left leaning, supporter of the SNP, I can go with that.  But Netball?  Played in our schools and at international level by the Scottish team.  Here's the site:-
https://www.netballscotland.com
My wife played hockey at school - field hockey, but not netball.
I am a fan of certain sports, cricket; speedway - the real one, 500 cc. bikes, no gears or breaks, 4 laps of an oval track;  American football - college and pro; baseball.  But I grew away from basketball years ago.